When I was a little girl I wanted to join the circus. Not the scary, creepy, clown circus - that peddles too many peanuts and merchandise, but the old fashioned kind. The ones where the tents magically appear in town over night, and seem to thicken the air with illusion and mystery. Where you are transported instantly into another world when you walk through gates - gates you can't remember being there.

I wanted to be a fortuneteller along the main thoroughfare, or a gypsy with an old typewriter selling instant poems for 25C. Inside the main show I wanted to fly. I didn't need a sexy costume and to ride along the tops of the big elephants to entertain the crowd, I wanted to be launched from one side of the big top to the other, fingers brushing the fabric of the tent.

So I've loved CirqueDu Soleil since the first night the blue and yellow tent appeared over night in the parking lot of down town Denver. I've made a habit of saving up to see as many tented shows that come as possible. I dress up and spend one night allowing the atmosphere to wash over me. Under that tent, anything is possible and I'm not longer in Denver.

I can't thank you enough, Cep, for know this about me and:

1.Lying about how close our tickets were so I'd be shocked that we were third row when we got there.

2. Patiently waiting for the punch line of my story while I laughed uncontrollably one word from the end, tears spilling down my cheeks, nearly falling out of my chair.

3. People watching with me, and filling the silence in goofy banter.

4. Being willing to suspend adulthood for one night and to simply be a companion in magic and awe.

What a great way to go into a backpacking weekend, with each step a little lighter as I dream about soaring, and thoughts of anything being possible on my brain. You were with me dear reader as I gazed with hardly blinking eyes at the beauty, do you feel lighter too?